Aeroplane.



6. A. FURNEAUX.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, I915.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

G. A. FURNEAUX.

AEROPLANE.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 m L 3 1 I 1 W AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 2, 1917.

Application filed April 14, 1915. Serial No. 21,323.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon A. Fun- NEAUX, citizen of the United States of America, residing at Dufur, in the county of Wasco and State of Oregon,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to improvements in airships.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of airships and to provide a simple, practical, and efficient airship equipped with a feathering aeroplane capable of upward and downward movement and adapted in the upward movement to permit the passage of air through it and adapted to close automatically on the downward movement whereby a great lifting power is exerted for elevating the airship at the expenditure of a minimum amount of power.

A further object of the invention is to provide a feathering plane of this characof great strength and durability adapted be set at different angles or inclinations so as to propel the airship in conjunction with or independently of a propeller.

li ith these and other objects in view the nxvention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of an airship provided with a feathering plane constructed in accordance with this invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, Fig. 3 is an end elevation show ing a plurality of feathering planes, Fig. i is an enlarged detail sectional view of a portion of one of the feathering planes, Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating the construction of the pivotal and sliding connections between the vertical guide rods and the feathering plane.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

In the accompanying drawings in which illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention, 1 designates a feathering plane comprising in its construction a substantially rectangular frame designed to be constructed of aluminum, steel, bamboo or any other suitable material and composed of straight longitudinal side bars or members 2 and curved end bars or members 3 and braced at intervals by curved transverse bars a constructed of the same material as the frame and suitably secured at heir terminals to the same but the trans- ;zrse rods or bars may be made of any other :ktable material than that of the frame.

The frame or frame work is also prodried with vertical rods or strut members centrally secured to the transverse braces or rods t at the center thereof and extending above and below the same as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings and connected at their terminals with the frame by upper and lower inclined bracing wires (5 which may be diagonally arranged as shown in Fig. l in which the upper wires 6 extend from the upper terminals of the vertical strut members to the ends of the transverse bracing rods or members 4. The lower bracing wires 7 which are arranged at an inclination extend from the lower ends of the vertical strut members to the frame, preferably being secured at their upper terminals to the transverse rods or members centrally thereof so as not to interfere with the action of feathering strips 8 hereinafter described, but the bracing wires which coact with the vertical strut rods or members to form trusses to provide a frame work of great strength and rigidity may be arranged in any other desired manner to provide a frame work of the desired strength to adapt the feathering plane to the airship in which it is designed to be used.

The frame work is provided with a net work 9 covering the frame and arranged at the lower face thereof and extending from one end of the frame to the other and entirely across the frame. This net work 9 which may be constructed of woven wire or other suitable material is designed to be of a mesh one-half inch to three-quarters of an inch, but any size mesh may be emolOYQd. and instead of using wire, light strong thread, cord, or similar material may be employed in the construction of the net work. V

Beneath the net work is located a series of longitudinally disposed parallel wires 10 ex tending along the frame from one end to the other and suitably secured to the ends of the frame and to the transverse bars '4: and having secured to them one edge of each of the feathering strips 8 which in the form of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings extends longitudinally of the feathering plane but it will be apparent that the strips may be disposed crosswise, diagonally or in any other manner. These featherings strips which are designed to be constructed of light strong material, either metal or fabric are of a width to extend across the spaces between the wires to which they are'lsecured so as to overlap and fit tightly against one another and form an air tight plane in the downward movement of the same or when the plane is subjected to pressure from beneath. The feathering plane is movable upwardly and downwardly by the means hereinafter more fully described and on the upward movement of the feathering plane, the feathering strip is open and perm'its'the air to pass through so; that the said plane will move upwardly without resistance and on the downward movement of the featherlng plane, the

blades close automatically and enable the feathering plane to exert a relatively great lifting power.

The feathering strips are designed to be connected at intervals of any desired distance by a cord 11 extending transversely of the feathering plane and secured to the free edgesof the feathering strips and connected at one end with springs 12 or equivalent means mounted on the feathering planes at one side of the frame thereof and adapted to draw the feathering strips flat against the net work to form an air tight aeroplane in the downward movement of the same.

7 The springs may consist of coiled pieces of resilientmaterial secured to the adjacent side bar of the frame and having their terminals connected to the cords, but elastic strips or any other means may be employed for this purpose. The feathering plane is movable upwardly and downwardly on vertical guide rods 13, two of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings but any desired number maybe of course employed. These vertical guide rods which may be constructed of any suitable material arelocated at opposite sides of the center of the feathering plane and are embraced members 4 of the frame work but they may be applied to the same in any other desired manner and any other form of connection between the feathering plane and the vertical guide rods or members may be employed. By this construction the feathering plane is adapted to be moved upwardly and downwardly and also to be tilted onthe horizontal pivots 15 as'illustrated'in dotted lines in I Fig. 3 of the drawings. 7 Any suitable mech=' anism may be employed for moving the feathering and any desired number .of feathering planes may be employed and as illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings 'they'may be arranged one above another.

plane upwardly and downwardly In practice the number of feathering planes will vary with the capacity of' the airship for which they are designed. .The tilting of the feathering planes on the pivots 15 enables the planes to be arranged for propelling the airship and they may be em- V ployed in conjunction with a propeller or propellers or independently thereof.

Any suitable means maybe employed for V V rocking and controlling the set or angle of r 7 the'feathering plane or planes and in prac tice they may be. reciprocated vertically while set at any angle and as all of the weight is belowthe feathering plane there is vals with curved transversely disposed bars,

vertically disposed strut members secured to the transversely disposed bars and eXtending above and below the same,a longitudinal series of oppositely inclined braces connected with the ends of the strut members above and below the said frame, a net work located beneath theframe and feathering strips ar ranged to close against the net work at the lower face thereof. V V 2. An airship'of theclass described including a substantially rectangular frame,

curved transversely and provided at intervals with curved transversely disposed bars, vertically disposed strut memberssecured to the transversely disposed bars and eX- tending above and below the same, a longibers above and below the said frame, a net work located beneath the frame and feathermg strlps arranged to close against-the net tudinal series of oppositely inclined braces connected with the ends of the strut menuwork at the lower face thereof, a vertical guide bar, a sliding sleeve mounted on the gulde bar and provided with a horizontally disposed pivot and a'clamp secured to one .1130

of the transverse bars and having a bearing transverse bars and provided With a bearreceiving the said pivot. ing receiving the pivot. i) 3. An airship of the class described in- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature eluding a feathering plane provided With a in presence of two Witnesses. 5 frame having transverse bars, a vertical GEORGE A. FURNEAUX.

guide bar, a sleeve slidable on the vertical Witnesses: guide bar and provided With a horizontal D. LINDQUIST, pivot and a clamp secured to one of the J. B. GILMORE.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

